On the Blackest of Nights is the full-length debut from Sweden's Void Moon, a doom band that have been around since 2009 and recently signed to Cruz del Sur Music. Now, I've long had a soft spot for quality doom, seeing as I worshipped at the altar of Black Sabbath throughout most of my life and also became quite fond of acts like Candlemass and Pentagram.Void Moon certainly seem to also have a similar love for Candlemass, as much of the music here is definitely influenced greatly by the Swedish legends. The problem is, other than the crushing opener "Hammer of Eden" and the monstrous closer "Mourning Son", much of the rest of On the Blackest of Nights is fairly pedestrian and generic sounding doom. For doom to be really successful, you gotta have riffs that stick in your brain and slowly begin to melt your skull. Sadly, there's not much here that's memorable. Vocalist/guitarist Jonas Gustavsson sounds like Sebastian Bach, except not quite as powerful, and his style does fit the music fine, but too many of these songs, like "Word and the Abyss", "Among the Dying", and the title track, just seem stuck in first gear and never really get going anywhere. It's a shame, as the band really do a nice job of creating bleak atmospheres and haunting melodies, but I kept waiting and waiting for some pummeling riffs to come into play and they rarely do.
Two excellent songs out of nine just don't cut it, but I think the talent is here with this band and it's quite possible that a more focused and powerful work might be in their future.
Track Listing
1. Hammer of Eden
2. On the Blackest of Nights
3. Word and the Abyss
4. Psychic Bleeding
5. Cyclops
6. Among the Dying
7. Burning Court
8. Through the Gateway
9. Mourning Son